Privacy Policy
Last Updated: April 2026
1. Who I am
My website address is: https://thebudgetfreak.com. I am an individual travel enthusiast sharing extreme budget hacks and personal financial strategies.
2. Affiliate Disclosure (FTC Compliance)
This blog participates in affiliate marketing programs. This means that if you click on certain links (e.g., for car rentals or accommodation) and make a booking, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. This helps me keep the content free and the blog running. I only recommend services I personally use or trust.
3. Comments
When visitors leave comments on the site I collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection. An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.
4. Media
If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.
5. Cookies & Analytics
- Google Analytics: I use Google Analytics to monitor traffic and user behavior. This helps me understand which travel hacks are most popular. Data is collected anonymously.
- Comment Cookies: If you leave a comment you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies for your convenience. These last for one year.
- Technical Cookies: If you visit my login page, I set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This contains no personal data.
6. Embedded content from other websites
Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, maps). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website. These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, and monitor your interaction.
7. How long I retain your data
If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. For users that register on my website (if any), I also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time.
8. What rights you have over your data
If you have an account on this site, or have left comments, you can request an exported file of the personal data I hold about you, or request that I erase it. This does not include data I am obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.
9. International Users (GDPR & CCPA)
I respect the privacy rights of users from the European Union (GDPR) and the United States (including CCPA). My goal is to process all data transparently and securely according to these international standards.